Scottish property sales topped £5bn in the third quarter of this year, pushing average house prices above £250,000 in two parts of the country for the first time.

According to figures from estate and letting agent Aberdein Considine , the average home in both Edinburgh and East Renfrewshire now costs more than a quarter of a million pounds. Driven largely by the buoyant city markets, sales, average prices and market values across Scotland all increased during the quarter.

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East Renfrewshire recorded the highest average price in Scotland for the second consecutive quarter, reaching £261,512, an increase of 5.9 per cent on a year earlier. The Glasgow suburb is just ahead of Edinburgh, where prices rose 6.6 per cent to £257,220.

Perth and Kinross recorded its second consecutive quarter of substantial growth, with a near-10 per cent increase in the second three months of the year followed by a rise of 6.1 per cent. The back-to-back increases put the average home in the region at £203,389, ahead of Aberdeen.

However, the Granite City recorded its first year-on-year average price increase since the oil and gas downturn . The surrounding Aberdeenshire area also recorded an increase in sales volumes.

Jacqueline Law, managing partner at Aberdein Considine, said sales across the country as a whole rose by more than 8 per cent.

"The property market in Scotland is enjoying a spell of growth not seen since the halcyon days prior to the financial crash of 2007-08," she said.

More than 28,000 homes changed hands during the third quarter of the year, up nearly 4 per cent on the same period last year and almost 2,000 more than Q2.

"Just under 3,500 of these sales cam in Edinburgh, the busiest property market in Scotland, with Glasgow a close second. And for the first time, Scotland has two areas where the average home will set you back more than a quarter of a million pounds."